


One Last Chance to Say Goodbye

by calicoJill



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor shipping, Multi, little bit of drugs, little bit of mourning, you know... the happy shit in life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 17:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15466749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calicoJill/pseuds/calicoJill
Summary: The group stops by Molly's grave and Beau has an idea that allows Yasha to see her best friend one last time.





	One Last Chance to Say Goodbye

 

"This is it..." Caleb's voice was soft as he pulled back the reins of his horse, and it came to a delicate stop with a few light clomps. The party pulled up behind him, each bringing their horses to a stop at the fluttering red coat, that somehow still hung from the post Caleb had driven into the ground days before. Only now it was covered in a light misting of snow that had fallen in their absence.

 

They each sat atop their horses, melancholy sweeping over them and leaving them in silence. A sort of guilt passed over each of the Mighty Nein as the coat softly rustled in the light breeze, no one knowing just what to say. Seeing the familiar coat made everything feel real again.

 

Yasha was the first to unmount her horse as she slowly, almost apprehensively, approached the grave. Her brows knitted together and she looked reminiscent of a lost child. A surreal sense of loss washed over her. When the other's had told her of Molly's sacrifice, a part of her didn't believe them... or, more accurately, a part of her _refused_ to. And yet there it was. The bright red coat, softly moving as if it were inhabited by the ghost of her lost friend. It looked so _empty_ without him.

 

She swallowed and shook her head, lost for words. "I... didn't even get to say goodbye..." Her voice wavered and her hands shook as she took in the sight of Molly's grave, finally letting it sink in.

 

There was silence as the others watched, not wanting to interrupt. Even Jester... who wanted nothing more than to rush to the grave and cry, held back when she felt Fjord's firm hand grasp hers. A comforting touch, but also a silent request for her to wait that Jester took to heart. She bit back her own tears and watched, knowing the importance of giving Yasha the time she needed to mourn.

 

Moment after moment stretched on and Yasha simply continued to stare at the resting place of her best friend, feeling alone. More alone than she could ever remember. The other's watched her, feeling the awkward need to say something and nothing at all and so they let the time slowly and painfully tick by. It was the first time they had seen Yasha look scared... almost as though she were drowning with every emotion that tried to tear through her soul. Eventually there was a soft rustling behind her as someone else jumped down from their horse, but Yasha didn't turn to look, her eyes too transfixed on the makeshift grave before her. She wanted to scream, to cry, to lash out and yet she stood paralyzed, unsure how to approach her best friend's grave.

 

Beau came to stand next to her and stared at something in her hand before taking Yasha's hand and placing the object delicately into it. Beau sniffled slightly and composed herself as best she could, but Yasha could still hear the pain in her voice as she spoke, "Molly and I... when we used this.. We..." There was a pause and Beau shook her head. "If you take this... you might be able to see him again... at least for a little while."

 

Yasha finally pried her eyes from the grave and looked to her with slight confusion before looking down to see what Beau had placed in her hand. It was a small glass vial, with what appeared to be the crushed and dried remains of a dark fungus. She recognized it in an instance and felt a new sense of pain pass through her chest. It was the skein that Molly had fished for back when they had all met in Trostenwald.

 

She regretted now not taking the chance to experiment with it, back when Molly and Beau has asked her to join them. She hadn't even asked them what it did, but the small promise that she maybe able to see Molly one last time was all the convincing she needed as she popped the cork with her thumb and tipped the contents into her mouth in one fluid motion.

 

Beau nodded solemnly and rubbed Yasha's back before Yasha stepped forward and sat at the foot of the grave, looking forward at the fluttering coat as she waited for its effects to take hold. The others continued to watch in silence, waiting, not knowing what to say, or even if they should say anything at all.

 

Minutes ticked by as Yasha watched the coat in silence... Imagining, hoping, praying that Molly would somehow materialize within it. Alone with her thoughts that somehow felt... too shallow for what the moment entailed. Her mind would wonder to strange places that left a strange sense of reality about her. Everything was simultaneously too real and not real enough.

 

Eventually she could feel the drug taking hold of her body and she tightened her muscles to fight off a strange sense of dread before it passed and slowly, ever so slowly before her eyes the air seamed to shift and ripple with a dull whiteness. As the seconds passed by the white seemed to strengthen and take form, and a translucent form sat in front of her at the head of the makeshift grave, a soft smile on his face.

 

Yasha's body suddenly shook and wracked with sobs as tears broke from her eyes at the familiar face who took form in front of her. "Molly...?"

 

The figure's smile grew and he cocked his head to the side almost in awe. His lips moved as if he tried to speak and after a short delay an echoing and hallow voice reached Yasha's mind. "They actually managed to pull it off...I'm glad." There was a sense of pride in the statement as he looked her up and down. "It's good to see you again, darling. I was worried about you."

 

Yasha continued to sob, and clenched her teeth tightly in a failed attempt to compose herself. "I'm sorry, Molly... I'm so sorry."

 

Molly cocked his head slightly, his smile faltering and he looked confused. "You're... _sorry_? Sorry for what, dear?"

 

"If I... I should have fought _harder._ Should have been _stronger..._ It's my fault.. it's my fault that you..."

 

Molly frowned and shook his head. "No...Darling... _no._ No." his voice was echoing, but firm. "It wasn't your fault... it wasn't anyone's fault but his..."

 

"I could have done more..." Yasha averted her gaze briefly in shame.

 

Molly smiled sadly and shook his head. "It's okay, Yasha…" He looked past her, his eye scanning over the others who couldn't see him and his smile grew. "It was all worth it for this."

 

Yasha shook her head. She wanted to reach out and touch him... he was right there and yet when she reached her hand out to him and he reached back, her hand passed right through.  "I'm so alone without you... I don't know- I don't know what to do."

 

"You're _not_ alone... You have a family that needs you." He nodded with his chin to their friends as they watched on as Yasha seemingly talked to nothingness. "They've grown so much... but they have a long way to go... Take care of them for me."

 

Yasha nodded and wiped a rogue tear from her cheek, her chest slowly started to calm as the wracking sobs retreated. "Of course..."

 

Molly smiled as a strange ghostly fish swam by behind him before fading out of existence again. "Tell them I'm proud of them..."

  
Yasha nodded again but didn't say anything.

 

"Tell... tell Caleb it's okay to rely on his friends, they love him and want to see him flourish. He doesn't have to go it alone..." He looked solemnly at the Wizard where the man sat watching from his horse, almost as if he were making eye contact with Molly. "And tell Beau that I'm... glad she got away. That it was worth it if she..." Molly stopped himself and then shook his head and grinned slightly "Tell her to watch her mouth... before it gets her in trouble..."

 

There was another nod from Yasha as she bit her lip to stop her tears as she searched Molly's eyes. The light breeze on the coat drifted the sent of incense to her and for a moment she forgot that he wasn't flesh and blood in front of her.

Molly let his grin grow slightly, "She likes you, you know?"

 

Yasha let out an amused puff of air, the first hint of a smile finally tugging at her lips. "I know..."

 

"Can you do something else for me?" Molly asked, his voice echoing and seeming to fade.

 

"Anything."

 

"Stay with them... I know... I know you only stuck around for me... But they need you... And you maybe don't know it yet, but you need them too." Molly smiled brightly at her as his figure began to fade away and Yasha reached out instinctually only for her hand to pass through him again as the visage disappeared into nothingness and she was once again left alone at his grave.

 

She closed her eyes tightly and sighed. "I'll try, Molly." With a soft sniffle Yasha pulled out her book... the book Molly had given her. Scrawled in embossed gold across the front, the words 'Manners and etiquette'. A bittersweet smile crossed her lips and she opened the pages to find her four-leafed clover. She let her finger trace along it's edges delicately and hesitated before she swallowed and pulled it from the pages and placed it in one of the pockets of his coat. "Goodbye, Molly... until we meet again."

 

 


End file.
